We were back to full sunshine and 89F by mid afternoon today. Lovely cycling weather. The green mountains were stunning this morning as we continued to ride south, with the main ridge line to our left. The first thirty miles to Manchester simply flew by.

Manchester was one of the most well heeled of all the Vermont small country towns we have visited. All manicured lawns and beautiful, white timber houses with the obligatory Stars and Strips hanging outside. The cafes were equally up market, and calorie conscious – so buying the required calories for a second breakfast was quite tricky! 

By now everyone is very congratulatory on reading our shirts and realising where we have ridden from. But no one can get their heads round what 100 miles a day actually means. So, for example this morning, when we told them we’ll be finishing in Boston tomorrow afternoon they looked confused, and then shocked. Because Boston is still 160 miles away from Manchester! 

  
From Manchester we did the final proper climb of the trip – only about 1500 feet up and over the Sylvan Ridge Pass on the main spine of the Green Mountains. This was an easy climb, mostly in the shade. 

We descended about 40 miles down a lovely, twisting valley with steep wooded sides. Reaching Battleboro we were hungry, and the lunchtime chicken salad was very welcome. From Battleboro we crossed the Connecticut River and entered New Hampshire, our 11th out of 12 US states.

 Another climb (that’s another day with  well over 5000 feet of climbing!) brought us to Keene, and our last night on the road. On the descent into town Tim finally broke the 50mph barrier – he’s been trying since Seattle! On checking in to the hotel we were delighted to find that Tim Scholes had bought us each a congratulatory beer. Thanks Tim!